God called, and you answered.  Excellent! Now prepare yourself for a time of intensive study, challenge, and self examination!  It's not always easy, but if you "do your work" at the end of the 3 years you are sure to leave the Seminary a very different person than when you began.

Possible Reactions to the Seminary Curriculum:

• Reactivation of Trauma (PTSD)
• Crisis of Faith
• Crisis of Identity
• Onset of Depression & Anxiety
• Exacerbation of any exisiting condition
• Sudden Insights into dysfunctional family patterns that bring up strong emotions
• Activation of Addictions, including Alcohol, Drugs, Sex, Internet Pornography
• Performance Anxiety
• Increased marital discord
• Stress over finances
• Your children may pick up on your stress and begin acting out
• Burn out from taking care of everyone else
• Difficulties with Anger
• Stress from the special challenges that arise from being a woman, a person of color, or being differently abled
• GLBT issues as they pertain to ministry, ordination, and the Christian faith

What they may not have told you before you started....

Seminary education will challenge you in ways you may not have even thought possible.  Hermeneutics, Exegesis, & Ancient Languages challenge our minds as well as our faith. Preparing for ordination, participating in "teaching church", preaching your first sermon, participating in Clinical Pastoral Education, encountering different groups on campus who have different "agendas", etc:   All of these experiences can rip you open emotionally, and if like many of us in this field, you are a "wounded healer" you should expect that  those wounds will become activated.